For many years, the lunar new year season has become more of a dread ... and I even found it a tad irritating when those gong-cymbal-drum lunar new year songs become omni-present in shopping centres and just about every public places. The air of expectation and the vibrancy that characterised this season I have experienced in more youthful times have been dulled - perhaps by age and probably by the trials and tribulations of life.
Hualampong Railway Station marked the start of my walk to and through Yaowarat.
A trip to Bangkok - with a little more time than I needed for aircraft spotting and photography - gave me the opportunity to head downtown for a spot of mindless wandering in Yaowarat, Bangkok's chinatown. I began my day at the iconic Hualampong railway station marvelling at the massive curvy roof that reminded me of trains stations in Europe. A few paces away, I chanced upon a lady living along one bank of a canal near to the Saphanthawong bridge.
View from Saphanthawong Bridge.
She instantly knew I wasn't local - perhaps because I looked lost but then again, perhaps because I had a camera in my hands. We spoke - in Teochew, how refreshing it was to speak this beautiful dialect. Hearing that I wanted to head to Yaowarat market to look for lunar new year goodies, she hailed a passing local resident to take me down a few turns to the Wat Traimit (a buddhist temple) and then to Thanon Yaowarat.
Wat Traimit as seen from the busy street in front of it.
I briefly passed Wat Traimit and as it was crowded, I decided to stay focused on finding the marketplace and pressed on. Having got the general direction I should head, I let my eyes do the navigation ... and went down whichever street seemed interesting. Colourful fruit vendors and countless hardware shops lined the streets - one of the latter had a number of ornate bamboo bird cages to soften the harshness of the business within its premises.
Fruit vendor peddling from a pushcart walk miles each day to earn a decent living.
Songbirds in ornate bamboo cages softens the streetscape in Yaowarat.
A shop with freshly-baked Teochew pastries filled with lotus paste, melon strips, melon seeds and egg yolk instantly got my attention - when was the last time I tasted such a pastry! It belonged to a Tay family and it was not long before Teochew became the lingua franca again. Naturally, I left with two huge pastries - and would have bought more if not for the fact that each one was already bigger than any I have ever seen and were quite heavy. So just two will do for now - one each for my sister and my brother.
The most delicious teochew patries I have tasted in a very long time - now I have to find it again next year.
As I plodded on, I passed yet more temples and when it became apparent that there were more people with pushcarts laden with all manners of goods, I sensed I was nearing the marketplace. And then there it was ... initially a couple of shops selling gems with Arab-looking salespeople. A shop selling embroidered cloth patches got my attention and I left a few minutes later with the logo of Thai Airways International and the roundel of the Royal Air Force. And in anticipation of a potential trip to North Korea - still has to consider my ability to afford this trip in September 2012 - I also bought a stack of North Korean flags.
Embroidered cloth patches for my friends.
It was not long before I found myself in a narrow long alley with nothing but shops on both sides - peddling stationery items, lunar new year decorations, ribbons, footwears, clothes, cloth, kitchenwares, bags, fruits, stickers and a zillion other things I don't think I will ever need. But it was absolutely wonderful - so vibrant, so crowded - especially when humans on foot try to get past the pushcarts along the narrow alley and surprisingly not too noisy or warm.
Persimmon are in season and taste absolutely heavenly, particularly when not too ripe.
I did not find the lunar new year decorations I sought for my sister and brother - couplets for the doors and perhaps a few other items that are not too gaudy, but managed to finish off a slice of juicy pineapple, another slice of the reddest watermelon I have ever seen, a bottle of even redder pomergranate juice and a bag of peeled water chestnut. With these, I had all the fibre, anti-oxident, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients I need for an entire week.
After about two hours, I managed to extract myself from the market place ... and came face to face with streets lined with an incredible number of goldsmiths. This must surely be the most valuable slice of chinatown. Along the sidewalks, more stalls peddle chinese new year decorations - and it is here that I finally found the much-sought after couplets, rendered in teochew inspired chinese characters! These stalls shared the sidewalks with many other traders peddling everything from leathergoods, clothes, locks, lighters, fruits and food and there were even a few shops selling traditional chinese coffins! My attention was however drawn to a line of people seated ... waiting to have their faces "threaded" to remove facial hairs! The serenity on the faces of those undergoing this "treatment" seemed incongruent with my perception that this must surely be quite a painful process. I was tempted to try it for the first time in my life - but decided against it as I am either too embarassed to have it done or felt I did not have enough facial hairs to justify this treatment. I would have loved to photograph the ladies having their faces threaded but thought otherwise, finally choosing a caucasian male subject instead.
Facial hair removal using strings pulled really taut seems rather ruthless and painful.
Finally, as my energy level and the supply of Thai Bahts in my wallet dipped seriously, I decided it was time to leave ... and ended up back in front of the Hualampong railway station. A ride on the Bangkok MRT to Petchaburi Station followed by another on the Airport Link to Lat Krabang Station took me back to the cool and quiet serenity of my room in the Queens Garden Resort near Suvarnabhumi Airport.
I thoroughly enjoyed my walk and shopping spree and this surprised me. I felt a stirring in me that seemed to say that there is still something to be said about the weeks leading up to the lunar new year. Perhaps it was the energy that comes with the Year of the Dragon and then again, I might be on a sugar high after all those fruits I consumed during my walk - not to mention the thought of the two pieces of teochew pastry that I am bringing home to my siblings.
Now I am thinking of going back to Yaowarat same time next year ... to see if the same energy is there with the Year of the Snake.
